A two skeleton RESET
by PotentiallyHarmful
Summary: Papyrus finally understands. (prompted by tumblr user shadow-the-yiffhog ) THERE ARE ONLY TWO CHAPTERS. THAT IS IT. THE END.
1. Papyrus' turn

RESET.

Sans slowly opens his eyes…

No, DAMMIT!

That damn kid will never stop doing this will they?

He sits up and looks around at his bedroom. The sock pile that he's laid out in a specific way to tell him if things reset without him knowing… the tornado of garbage swirling in the corner, his treadmill… It was all back again.

Dammit…

Dammit that fucking kid!

Sans can feel tears stinging his sockets. The overflowing swell of sadness completely taking over his body. He feels heat rising in his bones and finally just stuffs the boney heals of his hands to his eyes and quietly begins to cry.

This will never end. He's stuck in this looping hell forever. Forever and forever he'll have to watch everyone he loves and cares for die and die and die.

He can't fucking deal with this… He needs help. He needs someone to just hold him right now. Any pride he had at the beginning of all of this has completely flown out the window.

Sans sobs with one hand to his eye as he shlups out of bed and slowly shuffles his way out of his room. Papyrus… He had to see his brother. Sans needed to hug his brother so bad right now it was almost painful.

In the living room, feeding Sans' pet rock was Papyrus. Just as glorious and tall and sweet as always. He hears Sans coming down the stairs and turns.

"BROTHER! YET AGAIN YOU'VE FAILED TO FEED YOUR-" Papyrus halts his words immediately.

An unfamiliar sight. His goofy, funny, happy brother was… crying. Not just tearing up or whimpering, but full on sobbing into his hands, blue tears flowing down his bones onto his clothes.

"SANS, MY GOD ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WHAT IS THE MATTER?!" Papyrus rushes over with long strides. Sans gets to the last step and slowly puts his arms around his brother, nearly collapsing into his thin arms.

He wasn't sure if he could cry any harder or make any more tears than he was. But good god was he wrong. Holding Papyrus in his arms reignites the emotions and Sans sobs openly and loudly.

Horrified by this very different scene of Sans, Papyrus stands there for a few seconds taking it in. But it doesn't take long for him to lean down and really hug his brother tightly and wholly, rubbing his back.

"Papyrus, I love you so much…" Sans sobs. "Please please please please don't leave me."

Papyrus can feel the burning of tears in his own eyes. He has NEVER seen his brother like this. To see his lazy smiley brother reduced to a sobbing wet mess is very scary. Pap wasn't even sure Sans had this side of him as an OPTION. What on earth could have caused his brother to feel this way?

"I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU BROTHER." Papyrus reassures.

"Please Papyrus, Christ I'm begging you not to leave me. Ju-just stay here and do-don't fucking leave." Sans sobs at the last few words. His taller brother hugs him tighter and nods.

"I PROMISE SANS, I WON'T LEAVE YOU. WE'LL STAY HERE."

"I'll protect you Papyrus. I'll protect you if it's th-the last thing I do, e-even if I have to do it a million more times I'll keep you safe."

What does he mean a million more times? Papyrus can't stop this terrible sinking feeling in his bones that his brother may have been suffering under that skeletal smile of his. Just this morning Sans was cracking jokes and being rather cheery. So what the hell had happened in the last couple hours to change his brother so drastically? Was Sans truly suffering alone and just hiding it under a comedic façade? Was he just having a REALLY bad day?

"SANS…" Pap can't get over the sounds of his brother crying. It's truly heart wrenching. And it's only getting worse.

"I'll never ever be able to tell you how much I love you bro! How much you mean to me and how much everything you DO means to me!" Sans sobs, the grip of his tiny hands getting tighter on his brother's red scarf. He slowly starts becoming hysterical.

"I l-love how you're so enthusiastic about EVERYTHING, and I love that you want to learn and be your b-best! I like it when you insist I eat your spaghetti and you wear that goofy apron! I love how no matter what stupid bullshit I say or do, you don't hate me for it because you're too damn nice to ever be seriously mean to me, or to anyone! I like the stupid sticky note wars we have over the sock and I like when we watch TV together even when it's some garbage reality show because I g-get to spend time with you that I know won't get totally fucked up by that KID! Your face and your smile and your eyes are perfect and they're the only things that keep me sane in this RESET hell!"

Sans tries to say more things, but eventually the words are caught and muddled with shaking sobs. His rattling almost becomes violent.

Something has happened to Sans. Papyrus has just witnessed the complete and utter collapse of his older brother. His mind, his body, his personality. SOMETHING has blown the cap off of what must have been the most pent up bottle of feelings in existence, and now Sans is just barely standing here not just overflowing, but completely shattering.

What KID?

Sans' nonsensical babble slows to a stop when Papyrus gives him a small "clack" on the top of his head with his teeth. A sort of skeleton kiss. The small skeleton looks up at his brother, giant blue bubbling tears almost covering the entirety of his eye sockets.

Papyrus would put his hands on Sans' face, but he fears that if he even remotely moves his arms from around his small sibling that he would just collapse and turn to dust right then and there. As if his arms are a safety net and it's the only thing keeping Sans afloat.

"SANS. IT'S OKAY. EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT. I'M HERE FOR YOU. I'M HERE AND I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE… I'M SO SORRY THAT I..." Wasn't there for you. Saying it is hard. He never knew that this was brewing and he feels so bad... How could he not see this in his own flesh and blood?... So to speak.

"BUT I'M REALLY AND TRULY HERE FOR YOU NOW."

Sans knows that his brother means well… but there's no way he could ever know just how not okay everything is and will not ever be. But at least for now… At least this time…

He'll stay sane just a little longer knowing that his brother will be there for him. Sans feels awful for burdening his brother with this... but just this once...

()

A few days later, that kid comes out of the ruins…

Sans does his best to try and stick to this shitty script, and greets the human like he always does. With a smile and a handshake with a whoopie cushion.

But god is he tired.

There are no puzzles this time around. Not any finished ones anyway. Papyrus is far too busy making sure Sans is not alone or feeling bad. He's staying at home to watch his brother.

Sans doesn't even care about the linear job he's been cursed with. Just this once he wants to be selfish. Truly selfish. Inside he knows that if he doesn't take care of himself he WILL completely give up. And if he gives up, then he'll be dragging everyone else in the entire underground with him.

He sleeps and wakes up, rolls over in bed and goes back to sleep. He doesn't eat or go to Grillby's or watch TV or read books or anything. Papyrus checks on him and holds him a lot of the time. He's still scared of this wild change in someone he loves. But he must preserver and help his brother! If his brother isn't happy and healthy…

Those puzzles can wait. Everything can wait until Sans feels better. If his name is not The Great Papyrus!

Undyne calls Papyrus a few times a day to pester him and to ask how Sans is doing. He doesn't tell her much, other than he's sorry that he can't work today. This is usually followed by a very patient and understanding Undyne. She tells him that he'd "better take good care of Sans to make up for the work you're both missing!" Papyrus knows she means well even if she can't properly put it into words.

And he can't stop thinking about what Sans said. "That KID." What kid? Was a child really doing this to him? What monster in the underground would hurt him so?

Finally after four days of nonstop sleeping and being held, Sans leaves his bed and he and Papyrus eat that god awful spaghetti together on the couch. Sans doesn't even care about the taste. He's sitting with his precious brother and eating the food that he so lovingly made with all his soul.

The small skeleton gets his hoody on afterwards and insists he goes to work. Papyrus of course asks multiple times if he's sure Sans should be working.

"I'm really sorry that I..." Sans pauses and looks down at his slippered feet. Almost like the guilt was physically weighing his head down.

"That I worried you like that Papyrus. But I think I'm a bit better now. Besides, I could go for a walk anyway." He lies… He smiles at his brother and Papyrus stands there not quite believing he's perfectly alright again.

It's been this way for a long time he's gathered.

"I SUPPOSE IF YOU INSIST… BUT PLEASE SANS, CALL ME IF YOU NEED ME OR IF YOU WANT TO GO HOME. I'LL COME GET YOU."

"Sure thing bro. I'll be sure t'give you a call on the cellbone." Sans winks and points at Papyrus, who very nearly rolls his eyes. But he supposes it's okay. If he's feeling okay enough to make puns, maybe he's alright after all.

"SANS BE SERIOUS!" Papyrus shouts, trying to hide a small smile. Sans gives a little chuckle and waves, leaving the house.

He trudges through the snow and hates how familiar it is. Just another loop of him walking in the snow to his station. He passes the Librarby, Grillby's and the Inn. Normally he'd just teleport a few times to get to his station, but he just doesn't have the strength. Sans wonders if maybe he should have stayed home after all… He's so tired he feels like flopping face first into a pile of snow and falling asleep right there.

Before he can even reach his station though, ahead of him he sees that kid standing right in front of it. Did they wait for him or something? It's been almost a week now… They obviously noticed the break in pattern. Of course they did.

"Hey kid don't you have better things to do than stand in the snow? Go play or something." But the child doesn't move. It's clear they are not the nice version of the human child.

"Oh…" Sans slumps a little and the human raises an eyebrow.

A dejected Sans? This is their chance! Their red soul appears in front of them, initiating battle. Sans just sighs…

"Come on kid, don't you ever get tired of this shit? How many times has it been already? You don't even have that much LOVE..."

"Heehee~ Why would I get tired of it, when every time I reset something new happens?" Their eyes are crazy and a grin nearly splits their face in half.

"You really are a freak aren't you?" Sans takes his left hand out of his hoody pocket and it glows blue. His magic is very faded though…It's a dull blue and it's at that moment the child realizes that this fight is going to be easy despite their LOVE and EXP.

They dash forward and swing a shitty toy knife at the short skeleton. He moves aside, but part of his hoody is ripped. Wow, toys sure are dangerous.

White bones appear and shoot slowly at the human. The kid laughs and dodges them expertly, swinging at Sans again. Again he dodges, but only barely.

"Back off kid, I really ain't in the mood." He says without much punch. A series of blue bones fire at the human, and they stand perfectly still, knowing the drill by now. Sans keeps the blue bones coming for as long as he can, but finally he just runs out of magic and all the attacks fade away into nothingness. He pants and steps back with a wobble.

He doesn't attack again. He stands there tired… Tired in so many ways. Sans is just… so done. Trying to beat this damn kid never works. Even if he kills them, they just reload their save. Even when they kill him, they just reset and the cycle begins again. Even if they reach the surface... It only lasts ten minutes before the kid gets bored and restarts.

*Sans doesn't have the will to attack anymore.  
*Even defending seems impossible for him.

The child runs forward and stabs Sans, then ripping the knife upward with a disgusting grin.

Without another word, Sans falls to his knees and sits there feeling himself disappear. The child stands in front of him and stares. He's not even trying anymore… That's no fun. But nothing more is said.

Sans leans forward and before hitting the ground, he completely turns to dust. It plumes out in the snow and his clothes fall to the ground with a fwump.

()

It's only a couple hours later, but Papyrus decided that, while calibrating his puzzles, he should really go get Sans. It's just a feeling he has, and it's not good. Pap gets his cellphone out and speed dials Sans number. It rings and rings and rings. With every unanswered jingle, Papyrus gets more nervous. On the last ring of his second time calling he is speed walking towards his brother's station. Even if it took until the last ring, Sans would always answer his phone if he knew it was Papyrus.

He breaks out into a sprint when he calls two more times and still no answer.

Papyrus rushes past trees and jumps over passing Froggit's and Snowdrakes. But he stops dead in his tracks and drops his phone in the snow when he sees the literal worst sight.

In the snow is a blue hoody, black shorts and slippers laying on the ground. They cover a pile of dust.

He walks closer to the pile, feeling sick to what would be his stomach if he'd had one.

"SANS?" He asks quietly. Meekly. Everything Sans said a few days ago floods back to him harder than ever "Your face and your smile and your eyes are perfect and they're the only things that keep me sane in this RESET hell." "That KID..."

Papyrus had thought about what his brother was talking about this whole time. Reset. It didn't make sense, but it was beginning to click. Piece by piece.

RESET.

Their world was resetting over and over again. And Sans… Was he was living in a loop? Looping the same several days over and over and over again. That…

Is that why Sans was so lazy? Because time would just restart? Papyrus has felt times where he'd lose a second and he wouldn't quite understand what that feeling was. Every time he felt that little skip in the air Sans would appear and smile at him.

Papyrus walks up to the pile of dust and clothes and falls to his knees, grabbing the hoody with shaky hands.

That's why Sans never put effort into anything anymore? Because he knew it would all be undone. His effort would be wasted. If things really WERE repeating themselves and if Sans was the only one experiencing it... It would be useless to keep trying something over and over and over again if it didn't work. But what was he doing that drained him so much?

Orange tears bubble up and stain Sans' hoody. Without a single sob or shout, he glances to the left of the pile at the tiny foot prints of the human child walking away from what they'd done.

"That KID."

Only someone with a strong human soul could have done this to his poor brother. The kid was a human.

Papyrus stands up and gathers Sans' clothes and most of his dust and leaves the scene slowly, already thinking and plotting.

()

The next two days pass so slowly. Papyrus absolutely will not stand for this. The human must be dealt with. But how? They're so strong. Every monster that gets in their way is murdered. Dust is beginning to fall like snow in the underground. An evacuation order has been sent out and most of Snowdin was deserted. Papyrus turns the TV on as background noise in the house. Mettaton's show comes on TV and on the screen is... the human. No one speaks. There are no words. No Mettaton, just the logo in the corner of the screen.

Short brown hair and a stripped shirt. The show is brief and cuts off abruptly. It looked like security footage more than anything.

()

Undyne doesn't answer her phone.

()

Mettaton isn't on TV anymore. His show doesn't even turn on.

()

Finally Papyrus decides to take measures into his own hands. That has gone too far... It already WENT too far when Sans was killed.

Papyrus has made his decision.

()

The Last Corridor is so quiet. As a trainy of the head of the Royal Guard who he can only surmise was also murdered, he has to be the last line of defense. He has to protect the king. But more than that, he wants to see the face of the kid that killed his brother. He wants... rev-

The small clicks of the human's shoes almost startle Papyrus. From the darkest part of the hall he can see tiny red dots. The human child walks up to him at a regular pace, seemingly interested in this backwards version of their little game. But they grin all the same. Something new.

Papyrus stands tall and puffs out his chest a little.

"HUMAN… I HAVE BEEN THINKING VERY HARD FOR A COUPLE DAYS... I THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS YOU WERE LONELY… OR THAT YOU WERE SAD AND DIDN'T KNOW ANY OTHER WAY TO TAKE OUT YOUR FRUSTRATION. I THOUGHT THAT EVERYONE HAD SOME GOOD IN THEM. THAT IF THEY TRIED HARD ENOUGH, THEY COULD BE A GOOD PERSON. BUT I SEE NOW. YOU ARE NOT ANY OF THOSE THINGS. YOU'RE… YOU'RE JUST…. EVIL. YOU HAVE TAKEN TOO MUCH AWAY FROM THE UNDERGROUND. YOU HAVE TAKEN… MY BROTHER. AND I CANNOT STAND BY ANY MORE AND WATCH YOU DESTROY ANYONE ELSE!" White and blue bones glow and float around him. They jettison towards the child at breakneck speed. But the kid only darts around the bones like they'd done it a hundred times and this was simply routine.

They zip and dash easily making their way to Papyrus and slashes. Just one downward movement of their arm.

His hitpoints fall to zero instantly. Is this…

Did Sans have to do this? Is this what he was using all of his energy doing during the loops? Suffering alone and fighting the kid? Is this what he's been dealing with all by himself?

How many times?

How many times had this evil human murdered him? How many times did that knife slice through his brother and leave him totally alone in this big corridor to die at the feet of this demon?... Why would he keep doing it? Why would Sans have been standing here facing the human like this?...

Was it... the same situation that it was for him? Had Papyrus been slain by the human countless times, and left Sans alone in that sense as well? To stew in his anguish with his brothers dust in his hands… Was Sans coming here to stop the human… his fault?

Was this his fault?

()

Papyrus opens his eyes. Everything seems hazy… Memories were slipping from his mind. As if it were all a very very bad dream.

He sits up quickly, and realizes he's in his bedroom in Snowdin.

What? What just happened? Was he really dreaming? It all felt so real… It felt like a lifetime he spent in that nightmare… He was just in the Last Corridor wasn't he? Fighting the human?

Sans dust lying in the snow flashes in Papyrus' memories.

Sans!

He stands up quickly and rushes to his door, swinging it open. He looks immediately left to Sans room. The door…

For a week Papyrus stared at that door, clutching Sans' hoody. That never budging door. No slippered skeleton feet padding out, no silly puns…

But now, the door opens slowly and Sans steps out looking miserable. He looks exhausted and worn out.

It's true. What Papyrus went through was real… What SANS has been going through… What made him cry in Papyrus' arms and beg him not to leave the house…

What he just went though, Sans had gone through countless times.

This is a RESET.

Papyrus stands there with wide eyes, not believing that his precious big brother was really standing there in front of him.

Sans spots Papyrus standing there staring at him and quickly makes a big happy smile. A big fake happy smile.

This is what he always did. A reset would happen and Papyrus, the poor fool, would have no idea what his brother just went through. Sans would fake this cheery attitude every single time wouldn't he? And there Papyrus would be, scolding his brother for something and being... a right jerk.

"Mornin' Pap! Did y—" Papyrus runs over and sweeps his brother off his feet and into his arms in a huge tight hug. Sans' eyes widen in shock, and then double in size when he hears Papyrus sniffling.

"W-whoa, Papyrus are you okay?" Many clicking skeleton kisses are placed all over Sans' head and face. He sets his small brother down but he doesn't let go.

"SANS I'M SO SO SORRY! IF ONLY I'D KNOWN! I COULD HAVE HELPED YOU SOONER! OH I MISSED YOU SO MUCH SANS I'M SO SORRY I COULDN'T PROTECT YOU! I'M SO SORRY I LET YOU GO ALONE!"

"Wh-…what are you talkin' about Pap?" Sans doesn't want to hurt the timeline but not acting normal, so he keeps quiet. But…

"SANS… THAT WAS A RESET WASN'T IT?" Pap leans back and stares sadly into his brothers now terrified eyes.

"Wh…You…"

"YOU DIED SANS… I SAW YOUR DUST. THAT HUMAN KILLED YOU… I WENT TO STOP THEM BUT I... I WAS EASILY DEFEATED. AND THEN I WOKE UP JUST NOW… I'M SO SORRY SANS. I HAD NO IDEA SOMETHING SO HORRIBLE WAS HAPPENING TO YOU! THAT YOU WERE… BY YOURSELF ALL THAT TIME!" More tight hugs. Sans isn't even sure how to respond. His carefree brother has finally been tainted by the RESETS…

But… Maybe this was a… weirdly good thing?

"I WILL NEVER EVER LET YOU BE ALONE LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!" Papyrus shouts. Sans stands there staring up at his brother in genuine and unfiltered shock.

After several long seconds Sans chokes up and hugs Papyrus tightly, rubbing his face into his tall brother's scarf.

Just knowing that things were the way they were wasn't going to stop the RESETS.

But at least with Papyrus by his side, understanding, Sans could let the weight of this secret go. He could share the burden. He didn't WANT to share the burden if he didn't have to. But now it was unavoidable.

The boys spend the rest of the day on the couch talking about the different things Sans has experienced.

They're tangled and buried under every blanket and quilt they own and they cuddle and laugh with MTTV on in the background.


	2. Pap learns a lot, feelings are hurt END

(((THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER. This story has been marked as COMPLETED for like six months. This is the last chapter and there is no more and there will not BE anymore.)))

The last reset was probably the best one ever. And the scariest.

Sans had finally had it and proceeded to have a total meltdown. Papyrus had never seen anything like it. Sans, who he thought was lazy for no reason at all was ACTUALLY trying to up his hp count by sleeping. He'd been through so much and had really just given up hope. Why fight if it's going to all be for nothing?

Sans had explained a lot, but Papyrus knew there were other things he wasn't being told. Like why there was a back door they never used anymore. Why didn't Sans just tell him from the beginning that these time shenanigans were occurring- wait never mind Sans did tell him many times, but it would be reset and Papyrus would forget everything every time... Curses.

It was the longest night the two spent in many years just talking about stuff.

"How long has it been for you since I started acting different?" Sans had asked.

"WELL, ABOUT TWO YEARS NOW. YOU WERE WORKING AT THE LAB IN HOTLAND AND ONE DAY YOU CAME HOME QUITE UPSET ABOUT SOMETHING. I CAN'T RECALL WHY YOU WERE SO DISTRAUGHT THOUGH... I FEEL TERRIBLE THAT I'VE FORGOTTEN."

Sans had shaken his head and leaned heavily into the couch.

"Don't worry about it. Some things are better left forgotten bro..." Papyrus could tell Sans just wasn't going to tell him... but there was still something there…

Now into the next day the two clean dishes together and honestly, they're overjoyed to be spending time like this together. It's been far too long for both of them.

"SO BROTHER, IS THE HUMAN ALWAYS LIKE THAT?"

"What, bad? Nah. Sometimes they're actually the nicest person you might ever meet. I don't know what happens to change them or why it happens, but no matter what I've only noticed three different 'endings.'"

"ENDINGS?" Papyrus hands Sans a dish to dry and then goes to work on cleaning another in the soapy water.

"Yeah, endings. The ending you just experienced was a 'genocide' ending. The brat version of the kid. They fall into the underground and kill everyone."

"EVERYONE?" Papyrus knows they killed Undyne and Mettaton... but he didn't really go out so he didn't know…

"Yep, everyone. Not only the monsters they run into just by walking around... but they go completely out of their way to look for every monster in an entire area."

"THAT'S APPALLING... HOW CAN YOU TELL WHICH VERSION THE HUMAN IS?"

"I can see it right from the start most times. I have a routine down. A script. The ol' whoopee-cushion in-the-hand-trick. If they're planning on a perfect ending or a neutral ending, then they'll laugh every time. Or at least smile. Genocide run, no laughs. They're a real party pooper in that run."

Pap finishes cleaning the last dish and hands it to Sans. The two turn around and lean against the counter at the same time. They look at each other and laugh a little at how in sync the turn was.

"SO WHEN DO THEY COME BACK? WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN THEY DO? WHAT IS... HMMMMM. I SUPPOSE I WANT TO ASK WHAT THE END GAME PLAN IS."

"Well, if the kid's looking for a perfect ending... that's the result that we want. We stick to the script and make them happy."

"SCRIPT... I WAS PART OF THE SCRIPT?"

Sans is quiet... but nods.

"Yeah. Everyone is. I'm in the script too. That run that just happened… I broke the script. The human remembers all the times they come back and so do I. They were already on their killing spree before I got there though."

Papyrus ponders all of this very hard…

"WHAT ARE THE OTHER ENDINGS?"

"Oh, well, there's the 'neutral' ending where they'll only kill SOME monsters, but not all of them. There are a lot of different endings I've seen in the neutral ending too. They branch out depending on who the kid Dusts. And then there's the perfect ending where they don't kill a single monster… I can't tell you how many times we've looked at the surface Pap. We've seen it a hundred times."

Papyrus gasps. "WE'VE… WE ATUALLY MADE IT OUT? WOWIE! THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE BEST ENDING TO ME! WHY WOULDN'T THE HUMAN WANT TO KEEP A PERFECT ENDING?"

He stares down at his older brother and waits for an answer. But Sans stays quiet… He shakes his head and shrugs. Papyrus takes the hint and looks forward, folding his arms…

"WELL… WE GOT A BIT OFF TRACK THERE I GUESS. WHAT DO WE DO NOW? THE SCRIPT… WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT? DOES ME REMEMBERING THE LAST RUN RUIN THAT?"

Finally Sans chuckles and a genuine smirk crosses his skeletal mouth.

"It sure does little bro." Huh. Sans hasn't "little bro"d him in years. It makes Papyrus happy hearing it again.

He can remember a time when Sans was so full of energy and life. He'd run around the house and chase baby bones Papyrus around and when he'd catch him he'd be thrown in the air filled with laugher. Sans would ask "Who's your cool big bro?!" And Papyrus would respond with "YOU AAARRRE!" "Who's the COOLEST LITTLE BRO EVER?" "ME ME ME, I AM! I AM!"

"I SUPPOSE I HAD A BIT TO DO WITH IT. DO YOU THINK THAT'S PERHAPS WHY I CAN REMEMBER THE LAST RUN?"

"I dunno. I think it helped LEAD to the divergence though. I've never EVER been killed first between the two of us. I'm thinking that because I did die first last time and you sorta took my place in the sense of roll replacement, it allowed you more insight into things. I still don't get it, but it hardly matters now. You're here and you get it…. And that's honestly more than I could ask for…" Sans looks up at Papyrus and smiles the purest happiest smile Papyrus seen in a very long time. He has to protect that smile. It's what Sans has done for him all this time. Helping him is the LEAST Papyrus can do.

"Oh, what time is it?" Sans leaves the counter and goes to the living room to look at a clock in the living room.

"Alright, we gotta bounce Pap. Remember what you did yesterday? Do it again in the exact same way. If you move an INCH differently, the kids gonna notice."

Papyrus stares at Sans in mild disbelief. If he acts differently even a TEENY bit things are going to derail?

"DOESN'T THAT SEEM A BIT EXTREME SANS?"

A low dry chuckle. "Welcome to my world Papyrus."

()

T

he two head out and the greet the monsters that they pass until they get to Sans' station.

"Alright. I guess it's show and tell time bro. If you're gonna help me with this then I have to show you everything I can. Do you think..." It only just occurs to him that maybe Papyrus isn't ready for all of this… Is his forcing his brother into this?

"I mean, if you want—"

"SANS, OF /COURSE/ I WANT TO HELP YOU! UNTIL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!" Papyrus says loudly and putting a gloved fist to his chest and puffs it out.

"Hehe. Don't say that. It might come true. I don't really wanna do this for eternity."

"TRUE. THEN I'LL HELP YOU UNTIL YOU HAVE TO TIE ME UP TO STOP ME!"

The two have a candid moment of staring at each other. Sans silently wondering if this was right, and Papyrus with only the thoughts "HELP SANS" on his mind.

"Alright, here's what's gonna happen, and here's what you have to do."

Sans explains the entire scene to Papyrus and Pap is just quietly listening in awe at the EXACT detail Sans gives him. His brother has memorized everything….

"Got it?"

"OF COURSE I DO, WHO DO YOU THINK I AM BROTHER?"

"Hehe. You're right. Silly me. Alright get into place. The kids gonna show up in twenty seconds."

Papyrus nods and rushes off. He hides in the trees to watch the exchange.

The ruin doors open. Papyrus squints and he can see the familiar stripped shirt and short brown hair. The child looks at a bush then walks forward. They walk over a large stick… The stick breaks. Papyrus saw his brother phase in and out of view for just a second. The child hears the noise and turns… but then proceeds. Sans again phases in and out, the child repeating the turn. They get to the bridge and Sans appears solidly and walks forward in the snow. The kid stops, seemingly in fear at the noise. It makes sense. There was no one in front of them when they exited the ruins, so why would there ever be anyone behind them?

Sans comes up to them and talks to them for a few seconds. They shake hands and the most irritating sound EVER comes from Sans' hand. There's that ridiculous whoopee-cushion handshake trick.

The human child does not laugh.

"Heh. That's uh, your cue to laugh. Or… uh… emote at all…?"

Another genocide run then. Right after the other one? What is WRONG with this child? The talk continues and the two come through the bridge. Papyrus sees now that he's made the bars too wide to stop anyone… And he can't even fix it! That is irritating. The tall Skeleton comes out of the trees and readies his lines… It's weird to think of them as LINES…

"Quick, hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp." The kid doesn't move. And Papyrus proceeds.

"Uh, okay, I guess you don't have to."

Pap takes long strides forward and shouts his lines.

"SANS! HAVE YOU FOUND A HUMAN YET!?"

"Yeah."

"REALLY? WOWIE! GUESS THAT'S SETTLED!" He quickly walks away, not giving the human a single glance. Inwardly as he walks far enough ahead to hide in the trees again, he thinks "is that really how I act every single time?" It's so cut and dry. Every time a Genocide run happens he acts like that? How irritating… No wonder Sans never thought he could trust Papyrus with this secret… If this is all Sans ever sees of his brother then it really isn't surprising. How embarrassing!... How can he prove to Sans that he isn't that foolish without derailing this "script"?...

The two talk some more and Papyrus listens intently.

"Well, I'll be straight-forward with you. My brother'd really like to see a human… so, you know, it'd really help me out… if you kept pretending to be one." Sans walks towards the ruins and disappears. The child gasps and turns around. Sans is not there.

He reappears next to Papyrus in the trees. "Sh." He says and takes Papyrus' hand and teleports them out of there and about a hundred yards ahead.

"SO IT ALWAYS GOES LIKE THIS NORMALLY?"

"Yep. This is a genocide run."

"WHY WOULD THEY DO IT TWICE IN A ROW?"

"Well, you gotta remember, the run you went through has never happened before. They're looking to see if there's anything new now. Whenever they see something new after doing something new themselves, then they'll replay a few times to try and get the same outcome. Because it's different."

Sans stuffs his hands into his hoody pockets and Pap just folds his arms, upset that Sans is so nonchalant about this….

"SO IF THIS IS TRULY A GENOCIDE RUN, WHEN DO…. I DIE?"

Sans hadn't thought about that….. This really was a bad idea. Papyrus will have no choice but to die now and there's nothing Sans can do. There wasn't anything he could do BEFORE, but now that his brother has to go through this more than once right along with him, he feels so awful he thinks he may get sick.

"Well… we go through all your puzzles, but… before the kid leaves Snowdin and heads to Waterfall, you two fight there. But…"

"PLEASE TELL ME SANS. I'M NOT UPSET."

Sans digs his heal into the snow and twists it a few times nervously.

"You try to convince the kid to stop what they're doing. That there's still a good person in them. And right when you think everything's okay, the kid kills you. And even your last words are trying to tell the kid that if they try harder they can do better."

They're both silent… The thought comes up in Paps mind again about That version of him being the only one Sans has seen for a very very long time. He allows himself to be walked all over. In trying to be kind, he abandons his brother in the end…

What are they supposed to do now? Sans can't tell his brother "hey so you should stick to the plan and die like normal" and Papyrus doesn't want to say "BUT I DON'T WANT TO DIE SANS." So they stand there and think….

"Well… there's a chance they WON'T kill you… They might try for a neutral ending."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah. There are times where they'll kill some monsters, but they won't kill you, the lady behind the ruin doors, Undyne, Mettaton or the King. There are a lot of branches that the neutral run can take. So…"

Papyrus watches his brother avert his eyes to everywhere but him. The taller brother smiles and hugs his shorter brother.

"THANK YOU FOR TRYING TO GIVE ME HOPE SANS. I'LL DO MY BEST TO TRY AND MAKE THAT HAPPEN!"

Sans stands there kinda shocked.

"Pap you… you would willingly fight them knowing you'll probably die?" The taller boy hugs tighter.

"IF I REMEMBER AND COME BACK THEN IT'LL BE OKAY RIGHT? WE CAN JUST TRY AGAIN!"

They're quiet for a bit… before Sans snerks and hugs Papyrus back.

"I'm glad you have such a fresh view on things you numbskull… I'm… really sorry about this whole damn thing."

"IT ISN'T YOUR FAULT, SANS. BUT I THINK NOW THAT I'M HERE I CAN HELP! JUST BELIEVE IN ME OKAY? I /AM/ THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL!"

"You sure are bro."

The skeletons go according to the script Sans describes and attempt the puzzles with the kid. But the human ignores Papyrus and advances. Papyrus storms off and leaves Sans to comment on the child's crappy attitude. This happens several times in a row and every time in between NOT talking to the kid, the two talk and debate over and over again what the HELL they are going to do about this…

"Welp… this is the part where I leave…"

Papyrus knows what this means. He just smiles widely and gives Sans a majestic pose.

"FEAR NOT BROTHER, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS I'LL COME BACK!"

"I know you will Pap…"

"DON'T BE SAD BROTHER. EVEN IF I DO DIE, I'LL STILL REMEMBER THE RUN I ALREADY WENT THROUGH RIGHT? I MIGHT NOT REMEMBER THIS ONE BUT I'LL REMEMBER THE OTHER ONE!"

"I mean… maybe… I'm not 100% on that. But… I dunno…" Sans takes one hand out of his hoody pocket and scratches his skull….

"I never got to tell you this in any of the runs before you uh….yeah, but… I love you Papyrus. You know that don'tchya?"

Papyrus doesn't recall the last time Sans said that. It was always just silent knowledge that the two kept inside as they grew up. They thought it'd be weird if they said stuff like that around others, so they just accepted it and never spoke of it again. Because some boys are like that. So hearing Sans say it now is a bit surprising.

Papyrus BEAMS with delight.

"I LOVE YOU TOO SANS. NOW AWAY WITH YOU! I, THE /GREAT/ PAPYRUS, WILL DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION!"

Sans stares up at him and really takes the sight of his cool bro in… He feels it in his soul that Papyrus will just forget all of this like he always did. That this was just a fluke glitch. So he savors the moment… He nods and disappears. But he doesn't go far. He has to know if the kid needs their ass whooped later on or not.

()

The human walks up to the Waterfall border and sees Papyrus standing there like always. A blizzard has settled and both can only see a shadowy silhouette of the other.

He begins the spiel.

The child ignores him and walks forward and the battle begins. They check his stats… 3 AT 3 DF? Wasn't it 5 for both before?... Huh… How pitiful.

*Papyrus is sparing you.

*Mercy-Spare

The battle is over and not a single thing happened! Papyrus' eyes go wide and he can't believe how LUCKY he got! He is MOST grateful to not be dust right now. He can stay with Sans!

"WOWIE! YOU DIDN'T DO A VIOLENCE!" He throws his arms up in the air in excitement and then takes a few steps forward.

"YOU KNOW, I MUST ADMIT, I WAS… A LITTLE AFRAID! BUT YOU'RE ALREADY BECOMING A GREAT PERSON! I'M SO PROUD I COULD CRY!" Pap wipes away some mock tears, but he really is happy. These are his genuine answers and only realizes half way that they're the lines he always says apparently.

"WAIT A MOMENT, WASN'T I SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE YOU?... OH WELL, FORGET IT! I JUST WANT YOU TO BE THE BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE. SO LET'S LET BYBONES BE BYBONES!" He explains how to exit the underground and tells the human he'll be at home being "an awesome friend!" and jumps away over their head.

Sans teleports a couple times until he gets to their house on the inside. He stands by the window and watches Papyrus rush up with the usual happy grin on his face when the human doesn't outright slay the poor fool. Pap sees Sans in the window and waves happily! He's loud enough that when he speaks it can be heard through the already thin glass windows of their house.

"SANS DID YOU SEE THAT?! THE HUMAN DIDN'T KILL ME! I CAN STAY!"

"You sure can bro. I'm glad. I thought for sure… I wonder what they saw or felt that made them spare you this time. Maybe it was the previous run and they felt bad for you."

"OPEN THE WINDOW YOU DING BAT I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Sans chuckles and opens the window.

"NOW WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Don't sweat it." Sans says and winks.

"I CANNOT SWEAT SANS. I DON'T HAVE SKIN."

"You. The Joke. Pewww!" Sans swipes one hand over his own head indicating that obviously, the joke went over Pap's head.

"ANYWAY, WHAT DO I DO NOW BROTHER?" Papyrus is QUITE excited and can't even tell that Sans is still pretty nervous. Just because this happened doesn't mean the rest of the underground is safe.

"Well, the kid didn't flirt with you, so they MIGHT come back and hang out with you."

"FLIRT?"

"Yeah long story. It doesn't matter this time around. So they may or may not come back to chill with you. I dunno."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE HUMAN DOES AFTER I LEAVE?"

Papyrus waits for Sans to answer… but he notices his brother's empty sockets and Pap's smile fades.

"SANS?" He asks quietly.

"They keep going. Killing more of us I mean. Undyne might not make it. You saw what happened last time."

"BUT… BUT I THOUGHT THEY WOULD STOP KILLING AFTER FIGHTING ME!"

"That rarely happens anymore. It's not enough 'fun' for them."

"FUN…. IF THEY DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD HEART WHY WOULD THEY HAVE SPARED ME?!" Papyrus is beginning to get frustrated. He just CAN'T understand… He stares hard at Sans as he looks up. His eyes are tired. It seems like even explaining it is difficult.

"It's just a game to them Pap. They don't really care about us. They like watching us suffer. That's all there is to it. They spared you because you're probably their favorite out of all of us."

Papyrus CAN'T UNDERSTAND. Favorite?

"IF THEY LIKED ME THEN THEY…. THEY WOULDN'T. IF I WAS THEIR FAVORITE THEN WHY WOULD THEY KILL YOU KNOWING IT WOULD HURT ME? LAST TIME—"

"Pap." The tone Sans uses is enough to get Papyrus to be quiet. The taller brother watches Sans slowly regress back into that sad pathetic form he was in last run. Tired and DONE. Perhaps he should stop prying and let his poor brother be…

"Remember how after I died, you went to the castle to fight them? I told you before. I've stood there countless times. They like watching us feel hurt. They LOVE it. Seeing intense emotions on our faces gives them a kick. Schadenfreude and sadism to the extreme."

"SANS…"

Papyrus will never understand.

"WE CAN'T LET THEM CONTINUE BROTHER! WE HAVE TO STOP THEM!"

"Kill them?"

"N…NO! DETAIN THEM! WE'LL CAPTURE THEM LIKE… LIKE I WAS SUPPOSED TO FROM THE START!"

"They'll reload their last save."

"WOULDN'T THAT BE GOOD? MAYBE THEY'LL PICK A DIFFERENT—" The shaking of Sans' head stops him from talking and Pap finally stomps around angrily.

"SANS THIS IS… THIS IS SO STUPID!"

The shorter skeleton observes his brother finally not being a fool and thinking deeper into the situation. It's refreshing honestly. Normally Papyrus would just have blind faith in that damn brat and completely ignore all the murder happening. But Sans supposes this new attitude is because Pap finally went through his very first genocide run and remembered.

Things change when your brother is murdered after all.

"Papyrus, we only have two options. We let everyone be utterly destroyed, or we get to the human and force them to reset early. The less time our people have to suffer, the better."

"SANS, I DON'T WANT THEM TO SUFFER, BUT… I CAN'T… I DON'T THINK I COULD EVER KILL THEM…"

Sans nods and holds up a hand.

"I know you couldn't bro. You're not that type of guy. To be honest with you, I'm jealous of your belief that people can be good if they try. And with MOST people that's true I think. But this one is different. So you can't kill them, whatever. That's my job anyway. It's not even really killing them!"

Sans shrugs and then stuff his hands back into the pockets of his hoody.

"And we also CAN'T kill them officially. I told you last night. I'd kill them and they'd reappear again and we'd fight again. I'd kill them ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, TWO HUNDRED times in a row Papyrus, and every single time, they'd reload their save and we'd fight until they won. No matter what, they kill me. They kill the king. And then when they get their shitty ending and realize that maybe the path they chose wasn't the best one, they reset. Does THAT make you feel better? That makes it true that you can't actually kill them since they just come back."

Papyrus stands there with his mouth agape. Sans is right. He CAN'T kill them. Even though last time he fully intended on killing the kid, he didn't think he could do it. And even if he had…. So there's no avoiding it. There's no stopping this hell.

And dammit all Sans has been doing this ALONE, FOR SO LONG. Papyrus is less than half way into his first reset and he already wants to go to sleep and-…. Ah.

"So yeah. That's where we are right now. Wait for everyone to die and for the kid to get bored, or we go and force them to chill the hell out for a bit."

Silence. More silence. Sans begins to wonder if he's broken his brother.

"Uh… look man, I'm… sorry. I'm being really harsh on you… It's just… I've never had to teach anyone how this shit actually works before." Papyrus nods solemnly.

"I SUPPOSE I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR FRUSTRATION. I AM NEW TO THIS… BUT… IF WE GO FIGHT THEM AND THEY RESET… SANS, I'M SCARED I'LL FORGET. I DON'T WANT TO FORGET… ANY OF THIS. I'M SCARED TO PROGRESS AND RUIN WHAT WE'VE GAINED. WE ACTUALLY HAD A REALLY LONG CONVERSATION! WE /HUGGED/ A /BUNCH!/ AND… IT REALLY FELT LIKE WE WERE BROTHERS. LIKE, CLOSE BROTHERS! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE THAT…"

Sans' eyes are a bit wide…. Papyrus didn't feel like they were brothers really, that whole time? To Pap, it's been two long years since Sans' collapse after leaving his job at the lab. And to Sans, he's been looping for longer than he can really remember now.

He tried so hard to appease Papyrus, but his little brother could… well he could "see right through him".

It makes all his wasted hard work seem even more wasted if he couldn't keep his brother happy. He spent a lot of time in the workshop behind their house and now he spends a lot of time sleeping and being lazy. Sans feels split in half between the two lives he's been living. Time and space swirling around all unbalanced will do that to a person.

"Pap, I'm…" He looks down at the window sill and tries to put into words how he feels. Sans can already feel himself getting tired. Normally he doesn't have to put this much extra effort into a run through. It's very tiring…

"I'M… ALSO SORRY." Papyrus says, finishing Sans' thought.

"I'M BEING UNFAIR TO YOU. YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH AND I'M JUST ADDING TO IT. I DIDN'T MEAN TO… I DIDN'T MEAN FOR MY WORDS TO HAVE THAT EFFECT ON YOU…. WE'RE BAD AT THIS AREN'T WE?"

Sans finally laughs and nods.

"We ARE bad at this. Bad to the BONE—"

"I AM DISOWNING YOU." Sans laughs again and sighs.

"Jeez, what a damn mess this is! Pap, whatever you want to do, I'll go with it. At least I'll see something NEW for a change."

Papyrus notes that last part… It sounds a lot like how Sans was describing the human… Wanting to see something new, to break out from this eternal spiral of doom.

Sans has been changed by this cursed little game the child is playing. And Papyrus can't let it go on anymore. He has to save his brother.

"THEN I HAVE MADE MY DECISION."

"THEN I HAVE MADE MY DECISION."

"THEN I HAVE-….." Papyrus stops talking with wide eyes and stares at Sans for a second.

"WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?"

"The kid reloaded their save. They must be fighting Undyne right now and she's kicking their ass."

A half hearted shrug.

"I ALREADY HATE THAT. LIKE I SAID, I'VE MADE A CHOICE."

Pap stands up straight and adjusts his scarf a bit.

"WE ARE GOING TO STOP THE HUMAN. THEIR BAD DEEDS WILL COME TO AN END EARLY THIS TIME. AND YOU AND I WILL STOP THEM TOGETHER."

He smiles confidently at Sans, and sees the small white lights of his short brothers eyes illuminate a bit more. Like maybe, just maybe, they can see hope in the distance.

Sans nods and teleports out of the house next to Papyrus.

"I like it. Don't go easy on them either bro. Act like they stole your lunch money and then beat you up."

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T SAY 'ACT LIKE YOU'VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH THEM.' YOU'RE SLIPPING SANS." Papyrus jokes as the two begin to walk to the Waterfall border.

"My god you're right. Utterly disgraceful. Honestly Pap, I didn't you know you were a BONIFIED comedian. Why didn't you tell me?"

"IT WAS A BONER ON MY PART."

"You better not be tellin' a FIBULA."

"LYING IS FOR BONEHEADS!"

"I think if I ever hear "bonehead" or "lazybones" ever again I'll implode."

"SORRY."


End file.
